A theology professor in Detroit and senior adviser to the Vatican has blasted New York’s Catholic governor, Andrew Cuomo, for supporting marriage equality, and suggested that Cuomo be punished by being denied Holy Communion.

Edward Peters

Professor Edward Peters of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, a consultant to the Vatican’s highest court, hopes that punishing Cuomo would “serve as an example” to other Catholic politicians and clergy across the U.S. who might be considering same-sex marriage in light of New York’s approval on Friday.

“I see no way, absent a public reversal of his public conduct, that Andrew Cuomo may present himself for holy Communion,” Peters wrote Sunday on his blog. And, “I see no way that a minister of holy Communion may administer the sacrament to him.” [...]

He said New York bishops should make clear publicly that Cuomo can’t receive Communion because of the “danger of scandal presented to the faithful.”

Peters said Cuomo’s support of the bill — passed in the state legislature and signed by the Governor within hours of the vote — was, a “brazen” violation of Catholicism, and that Cuomo was a “danger” to faithful Catholics.

Holy Communion is a Sacrament that symbolizes the taking of the body and blood of Christ, and usually offered during a Catholic mass.